[citation needed] The album contains cartoonish depictions of violence and heavy use of profanity, which Eminem described as horror film-esque, in that it is solely for entertainment value.

While The Slim Shady LP's success turned Eminem from an underground rapper into a high-profile celebrity, he became a highly controversial figure due to his lyrical content, which some perceived to be misogynistic and a negative influence on American youth.

[6] The failure of Infinite inspired Eminem to create the alter ego Slim Shady: "Boom, the name hit me, and right away I thought of all these words to rhyme with it.

He placed second, and the staff at Interscope Records who attended the Rap Olympics sent a copy of the Slim Shady EP to company CEO Jimmy Iovine.

[8] Eminem, who had idolized Dr. Dre since listening to his group N.W.A as a teenager, was nervous to work with him on the album: "I didn't want to be starstruck or kiss his ass too much ...

Because the song focuses on disposing of his girlfriend's corpse, Eminem was not comfortable with explaining the situation to Kim, and instead told her that he would be taking Hailie to Chuck E.

Ken Kaniff would end up appearing in more Eminem albums over the course of his career and was last heard in The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).

[20] Kyle Anderson of MTV wrote that "The beats are full of bass-heavy hallucinations and create huge, scary sandboxes that allow Em to play.

[22] Eminem's vocal inflection on the album has been described as a "nasal whine"; Jon Pareles of The New York Times likened his "calmly sarcastic delivery" to "the early Beastie Boys turned cynical".

[23] Writing for the Chicago Tribune, columnist Greg Kot compared the rapper's vocals to "Pee-wee Herman with a nasal Midwestern accent".

[24] A skit entitled "Lounge" appears before "My Fault" featuring Eminem and the Bass Brothers imitating rat pack crooners.

[27] The rapper explained that this subject matter is intended for entertainment value, likening his music to the horror film genre: "Why can't people see that records can be like movies?

[18] The song draws inspiration from a scene in the 1978 comedy film National Lampoon's Animal House, in which a man takes advice from an angel and devil on his shoulder while considering raping an unconscious girl at a party.

When discussing The Slim Shady LP, Anthony Bozza of Rolling Stone described Eminem as "probably the only MC in 1999 who boasts low self-esteem.

His rhymes are jaw-droppingly perverse, bespeaking a minimum-wage life devoid of hope, flushed with rage and weaned on sci-fi and slasher flicks.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album five stars out of five, praising the rapper's "expansive vocabulary and vivid imagination", adding that "Years later, as the shock has faded, it's those lyrical skills and the subtle mastery of the music that still resonate, and they're what make The Slim Shady LP one of the great debuts in both hip-hop and modern pop music.

"[38] Soren Baker of the Los Angeles Times gave the album three and a half stars out of four and stated that "He isn't afraid to say anything; his lyrics are so clever that he makes murder sound as if it's a funny act he may indulge in simply to pass the time" but lamented the "sometimes flat production that takes away from the power of Eminem's verbal mayhem.

"[44] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone enjoyed the record's comedic nature, writing "Simply put: Eminem will crack you up", but also felt that the misogynistic lyrics grow tiresome, noting that "the wife-killing jokes of '97 Bonnie and Clyde' aren't any funnier than Garth Brooks', and 'My Fault' belongs on some sorry-ass Bloodhound Gang record.

Club felt that although the album is "sophomoric and uninspired" at times, Eminem's "surreal, ultraviolent, trailer-trash/post-gangsta-rap extremism is at least a breath of fresh air in a rap world that's despairingly low on new ideas.

"[46] Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1999, Robert Christgau called the record a "platinum-bound cause celebre" and, despite succumbing to "dull sensationalism" toward the end, Eminem shows "more comic genius than any pop musician since", possibly, Loudon Wainwright III.

[58] In the album's first week of release, The Slim Shady LP sold 283,000 copies, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart behind TLC's FanMail.

[60] On April 5, 1999, The Slim Shady LP was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.

He joined the Vans Warped Tour as a last-minute replacement for Cypress Hill, a schedule that included 31 North American dates from June 25 to July 31, beginning in San Antonio and ending in Miami.

[74] During a performance in Hartford, Connecticut near the end of the Warped Tour, Eminem slipped on a puddle of liquid and fell ten feet down off the stage, cracking several ribs.

He was labeled as "misogynist, a nihilist and an advocate of domestic violence", and in an editorial by Billboard editor in chief Timothy White, the writer accused Eminem of "making money by exploiting the world's misery.

"[5] During a radio interview in San Francisco, Eminem reportedly angered local DJ Sista Tamu due to a freestyle about "slapping a pregnant bitch" to the extent that on air she broke a copy of The Slim Shady LP.

"[5] On September 17, 1999, Eminem's mother, Debbie Mathers, filed a $10 million lawsuit against him for slander based on his claim that she uses drugs in the line "I just found out my mom does more dope than I do" from "My Name Is".

[77] In December 2001, DeAngelo Bailey, a janitor living in Roseville, Michigan, who was made the subject of the song "Brain Damage" in which he is portrayed as a school bully, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Eminem for slander and invasion of privacy.

"[33] In 1982, Eminem's mother unsuccessfully sued the Roseville school district for not protecting her son, as she claimed that attacks from bullies caused him headaches, nausea, and antisocial behavior.

She ruled that the lyrics—which include the school principal collaborating with Bailey, and Eminem's entire brain falling out of his head—were too exaggerated for a listener to believe that they were recalling an actual event.